Object tracking using cognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh network

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein are directed to tracking objects using a cognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh network. A first participant receives a notification signal from a second participant. The first participant determines first positioning information from the notification signal and second positioning information from characteristics of the received signal. If the difference between the first and second positioning information is below a first threshold, then the second participant is within line-of-sight of the first participant. If the difference is above the first threshold and below a second threshold, then the second participant may have a malfunctioning sensor. But if the difference is above the second threshold, then the second participant is not within line-of-sight of the first participant and the received signal was reflected off another object. The positioning information can then be refined or transmitted to other participants.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to information distributionmanagement and, more particularly, to utilizing aggregated informationfrom multiple participant devices to create and improve communicationand tracking of objects.

Description of the Related Art

Airplanes typically rely on radar or GPS information to track otherairplanes. Some airplanes, however, may be flying in an area with pooror unreliable radar coverage. Similarly, some airplanes may notbroadcast their current location to other airplanes. As a result, theradar and GPS information may not present a complete picture of all theairplanes in a given area, and thus create a dangerous situation inwhich airplanes may be flying near or towards one another withoutknowing.

At the same time, mobile communication devices, such as smart phones,have become a very integral part in many people's lives. The number ofmobile communication devices in use, and people's reliance thereon,continues to grow. For example, many people have a need or expect to beable to connect to the Internet in a variety of different locations,including on commercial airlines. Many commercial airlines rely onsatellite communication networks to provide their passengers withInternet access. However, these communication networks are often slowand have limited bandwidth capabilities. It is with respect to these andother considerations that the following disclosure addresses.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Briefly stated, embodiments described herein are directed to trackingobjects using a cognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh network. Aparticipant object can utilize received notification signals from otherparticipants to determine if the other participant is withinline-of-sight communication, out of line-of-sight communication, or hasa malfunctioning sensor. A first participant receives a notificationsignal from a second participant. The first participant determines firstpositioning information that is included in the notification signal andsecond positioning information from characteristics of the receivedsignal. If the difference between the first and second positioninginformation is below a first threshold, then the second participant iswithin line-of-sight of the first participant. If the difference isabove the first threshold and below a second threshold, then the secondparticipant may have a malfunctioning sensor. But if the difference isabove the second threshold, then the second participant is not withinline-of-sight of the first participant and the received signal wasreflected off another object. The first participant can refine thepositioning information and transmit it to other participants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with referenceto the following drawings. In the drawings, like reference numeralsrefer to like parts throughout the various figures unless otherwisespecified.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference will bemade to the following Detailed Description, which is to be read inassociation with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a context diagram of an environment for utilizing acognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh network to track participants andobjects in accordance with embodiments described herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a communication network betweenparticipants in accordance with embodiments described herein;

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate context diagrams of using directional signalingand scanning to provide directional communication between participantsin accordance with embodiments described herein;

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate context diagrams illustrating use-case examplesof employing a cognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh network to trackparticipants and objects in accordance with embodiments describedherein;

FIG. 5 illustrates a logical flow diagram showing one embodiment of aprocess for a computing system to utilize reflections of participantcommunication signals to track objects in accordance with embodimentsdescribed herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates a logical flow diagram showing one embodiment of aprocess for a computing system to refine object tracking in accordancewith embodiments described herein; and

FIG. 7 shows a system diagram that describes one implementation ofcomputing systems for implementing embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description, along with the accompanying drawings, setsforth certain specific details in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that the disclosed embodiments may bepracticed in various combinations, without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, devices, materials, etc. Inother instances, well-known structures or components that are associatedwith the environment of the present disclosure, including but notlimited to the communication systems and networks, have not been shownor described in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions ofthe embodiments. Additionally, the various embodiments may be methods,systems, media, or devices. Accordingly, the various embodiments may beentirely hardware embodiments, entirely software embodiments, orembodiments combining software and hardware aspects.

Throughout the specification, claims, and drawings, the following termstake the meaning explicitly associated herein, unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. The term “herein” refers to thespecification, claims, and drawings associated with the currentapplication. The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in another embodiment,”“in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in other embodiments,”and other variations thereof refer to one or more features, structures,functions, limitations, or characteristics of the present disclosure,and are not limited to the same or different embodiments unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the term “or” is aninclusive “or” operator, and is equivalent to the phrases “A or B, orboth” or “A or B or C, or any combination thereof,” and lists withadditional elements are similarly treated. The term “based on” is notexclusive and allows for being based on additional features, functions,aspects, or limitations not described, unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. In addition, throughout the specification, themeaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include singular and plural references.

As referred to herein, an “object” is a physical thing or item. Examplesof objects include, but are not limited to, cars, planes, trains, boats,people, buildings, or other mobile or stationary things. Objects includeparticipant objects and non-participant objects, which can be mobile orstationary. As referred to herein, a “participant” is an object thatincludes a computing device that can communicate specific, predeterminedtypes of information and data to other participant objects vialine-of-sight communications. And as referred to herein, a“non-participant” is an object that does not include a computing devicethat can communicate the same specific, predetermined types ofinformation and data with a participant object. As discussed in moredetail herein, participants can be mobile or stationary and may includecomputing devices of different sizes having different computing ornetworking capabilities. Throughout this disclosure, the term“participant” is used interchangeably with “participant object” and“participant computing device” and other related variations, and theterm “non-participant” is used interchangeably with “non-participantobject” and other related variations.

As referred to herein, “line-of-sight communication” refers to wirelesstransmission of information from a participant to another participantwithout other retransmission devices. Accordingly, line-of-sight is themaximum range one participant can communicate wirelessly with anotherparticipant without significant data loss. Examples of wirelesstransmissions used in line-of-sight communications include Bluetooth,Wi-Fi, ADSB, TCAS, or other protocols now known or developed in thefuture. In some embodiments, all communications between participantsutilize a common protocol.

As referred to herein, “sensor” refers to a participant's utilization ofline-of-sight communications to transmit information to anotherparticipant or to detect another participant or non-participant object.For example, the sensor may include a transmitter that transmitsnotification signals or other data via line-of-sight communications toanother participant. Notification signals are radio signals that arebroadcast or directionally transmitted from a participant to sendinformation to other participants that are within line-of-sight of thetransmitting participant. As one example, notification signals mayinclude the participant's identification information, geolocation,kinematic information, throughput capabilities, frequency capabilities,and other information regarding the participant. The sensor can alsotransmit data signals to other participants. Data signals are radiosignals that are broadcast or directionally transmitted from aparticipant to another participant or computing device to send orforward messages or data packets between participants and computingdevices that are in line-of-sight communication with the transmittingparticipant. The sensor may also include a receiver that receives echosignals of the transmitted notification signals. These echoednotification signals can be utilized to determine a location of anobject, which is described in more detail in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/892,259, filed Feb. 8, 2018 and issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,178,509 on Jan. 8, 2019, which is herein incorporated by reference.

Sensors also include beam forming techniques and technologies thatenable the sensor to transmit data to or detect objects in a specificsensor coverage area. This specific sensor coverage area is determinedbased on the beamwidth of the sensor transmissions and a thresholdline-of-sight distance of such transmissions. The thresholdline-of-sight distance may be determined based on the distance away fromthe transmission where data loss exceeds a predetermined thresholdamount, which may be based on the type of transmitter utilized, powerutilization, antenna capabilities, frequency, etc. Sensors may beam formin two dimensions away from a participant or in three dimensions awayfrom the participant. In this way, sensors can be configured to transmitdata or detect objects in a specific coverage area next to, in front of,behind, above, or below the participant, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates a context diagram of an environment 50 for utilizinga cognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh network to track participants andobjects in accordance with embodiments described herein. Environment 50includes a plurality of mobile participants (collectively referred toelsewhere herein as mobile participant computing devices 36), aplurality of stationary participants (collectively referred to elsewhereherein as stationary participant computing devices 34), and a pluralityof non-participants (e.g., object 28 a-28 b). As mentioned above, theparticipants can communicate specific types of information or data withone another, but cannot communicate the same types of information withthe non-participants.

Briefly, each mobile participant employs one or more sensors tocommunicate with other participants or to detect objects in the vicinityof the participant. A computing device, such as one or more of themobile participants, a stationary participant, or a server computer orsystem may track participants and objects by utilizing echoes ofself-transmitted notification signals or reflection signals of otherparticipant notification signals. In this way, participants can trackobjects and transmit data and tracking information to otherparticipants.

The following is a general discussion of the types of participants thatmay be utilized in such an environment and system. Embodiments, however,are not limited to these particular participants and combinations ofparticipants. For example, in some embodiments, only tier 3 mobileparticipants (e.g., airplanes) may utilize the sensor coveragemanagement described herein. In other embodiments, for example, acombination of mobile aerial participants and mobile ground participantsmay be utilized.

The plurality of mobile participants includes tier 1 mobile participants22, tier 2 mobile participants 24, and tier 3 mobile participants 26.The three tiers of mobile participants are generally separated by thecomputing and networking capabilities of the computing devicesassociated with the mobile participant. The computing and networkingcapabilities may be limited or determined by the amount of poweravailable or utilized by a mobile computing device, the amount ofprocessing power available, or the size, type, or accuracy of theantenna utilized, etc.

For example, tier 1 mobile participants 22 typically have the smallestavailable power, lowest processing power, smallest bandwidth, shortestranged antenna, lowest power output, lowest accuracy, and slowest updaterate. Examples of tier 1 mobile participants 22 include, but are notlimited to, mobile phones, laptop computers, tablet computers, wearablecomputing devices, or other smaller, low power, low transmission mobilecomputing or Internet-Of-Things devices. In the example illustrated inFIG. 1 , there is only a single tier 1 mobile participant 22, whichhappens to be a mobile phone in this example. However, other numbers andtypes of tier 1 mobile participants 22 may also be employed.

Tier 2 mobile participants 24 typically have medium power constraints, amedium amount of processing power, medium bandwidth, medium rangecapabilities, medium accuracy, and medium update rate. Examples of tier2 mobile participants 24 include, but are not limited to, automobiles,small personal boats, personal aircrafts, or other medium power, mediumtransmission, power regenerating mobile computing devices or objectsthat can support such mobile computing devices. FIG. 1 illustratesexample tier 2 mobile participants 24 as including automobiles 24 a and24 b. However, other numbers and types of tier 2 mobile participants 24may also be employed.

Tier 3 mobile participants 26 typically have the largest availablepower, highest processing power, highest bandwidth, longest transmit andreceive capabilities, highest accuracy, and fastest update rate amongmobile participant computing devices. Example tier 3 mobile participants26 include, but are not limited to, commercial airline planes,semi-trucks, cargo ships, trains, or other objects that can supportlarger, high power, high transmission mobile computing devices orobjects that can support such mobile computing devices. FIG. 1illustrates example tier 3 mobile participants 26 as including boat 26a, train 26 b, and airplanes 26 c and 26 d. However, other numbers andtypes of tier 3 mobile participants 26 may also be employed.

Various embodiments described herein refer to mobile aerial participantsor mobile ground participants. Mobile aerial participants and mobileground participants are mobile participants. Thus, mobile aerialparticipants and mobile ground participants may likewise be separatedinto the three-tiers of participant capabilities.

For example, tier 1 mobile aerial participants may include personalcomputing devices that are onboard an airplane, such as user devices;tier 2 mobile aerial participants may include general aviation aircraft;and tier 3 mobile aerial participants may include cargo aircraft andcommercial aircraft. Tier 1 mobile ground participants may includepersonal computing devices that are on a person walking down the streetor on a car or in a boat; tier 2 mobile ground participants may includeautomobiles or recreational watercraft; and tier 3 mobile groundparticipants may include semi-trucks and cargo ships.

In some embodiments, one or more of these tiers may be further separatedby capabilities or expected utilization. For example, tier 3 mobileaerial participants may include tier 3A mobile aerial participants thatinclude cargo aircraft and tier 3B mobile aerial participants thatinclude commercial aircraft. One situation where this distinction mayoccur is where a commercial aircraft is handling a lot of data requestsfrom user devices onboard the aircraft (e.g., tier 1 mobile aerialparticipants), which may impact that aircraft's throughput forforwarding communications between other participants. Conversely, acargo aircraft is typically not handling a lot of data requests fromuser devices onboard the aircraft, but is instead primarily being usedto forward communications between other participants.

Although some embodiments may be described herein with respect to mobileaerial participants, embodiments are not so limited. Those sameembodiments may instead utilize mobile ground participants or acombination of mobile ground participants and mobile aerialparticipants, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

The plurality of stationary participants includes ground entry points14, remote entry points 16, and access nodes 18. In some embodiments,stationary participants may be referred to as ground participants.Similar to the three tiers of mobile participants, the ground entrypoints 14, remote entry points 16, and access nodes 18 are generallyseparated by computing and networking capabilities, and footprint sizein some embodiments.

For example, ground entry points 14 typically have the largest availablepower, highest processing power, highest bandwidth, and longest rangeantenna capabilities. Example locations of ground entry points 14include, but are not limited to, cellular towers, airports, large retailor superstores, or other locations that can support large sized, highpower, high transmission stationary computing devices. FIG. 1Aillustrates example ground entry points 14 as including tower antenna 14a and superstore 14 b. However, other numbers and types of ground entrypoints 14 may also be employed.

Remote entry points 16 typically have medium power constraints, a mediumamount of processing power, medium bandwidth, and medium rangecapabilities. Example locations of remote entry points 16 include, butare not limited to, restaurants and coffee shops, airfields and trainstations, satellites, or other locations that can support medium sized,medium power, medium transmission stationary computing devices. FIG. 1Aillustrates example remote entry points 16 as including store antenna 16a and satellite 16 b. However, other numbers and types of remote entrypoints 16 may also be employed.

Access nodes 18 typically have the smallest available power, lowestprocessing power, lowest bandwidth, and shortest range antennacapabilities of the stationary participants. Example locations of accessnodes 18 include, but are not limited to, road intersections, traincrossings, road signs, mile markers, crosswalks, or other locations thatcan support smaller, low power, low transmission stationary computingdevices. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1A, there is only a singleaccess node 18, which happens to be a road sign in this example.However, other numbers and types of access nodes 18 may also beemployed.

As mentioned herein, mobile and stationary participants can communicatewith one another to pass information from one participant to another.Although in some embodiments, mobile participants may communicate withone another without the use of stationary participants.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a communication network betweenparticipants in accordance with embodiments described herein. FIG. 2illustrates an example 60 of a communication network 33 between aplurality of mobile aerial participants 32 a-32 c. Collectively, themobile aerial participants 32 a-32 c may be referred to as the network.Although FIG. 2 only illustrates three mobile aerial participants ascreating network 33, embodiments are not so limited and one or aplurality of mobile aerial participants may be employed. Similarly, thenetwork 33 may be established from other types of mobile participants,including various combinations of tier 1 mobile participants, tier 2mobile participants, or tier 3 mobile participants, which perform manyof the same functions as the mobile aerial participants.

Each mobile aerial participant 32 a-32 c transmits radio frequencysignals to be received by other mobile aerial participants 32 that arewithin line-of-sight of the sending mobile aerial participant 32. Thesesignals include, but are not limited to (1) data signals that transmitmessages or data to another participant and (2) notification signalsthat provide personalized information regarding the sending mobileparticipant. In some embodiments, the notification signals are referredto as self-reporting messages or self-reporting signals. Thenotification signals can include one or both of notification signals fornetworking and routing among participants and notification signals forsafety and de-confliction of possible threats.

The notification signals serve three primary simultaneous purposes: (1)to notify other participants of the sending participant's identity,position, and kinematic information; (2) to detect and tracknon-participant objects; and (3) to establish routing and networkefficiencies (i.e., to create the participant table identifying whereeach participant is and with who they are in line-of-sightcommunication). In various embodiments, the notification signals provideindividualized information regarding the sending mobile aerialparticipant 32 so that other mobile aerial participants 32 know thatthey are within line-of-sight communication of the sending mobile aerialparticipant 32 within network 33. These notification signals may bereferred to as self-reporting signals, since the mobile aerialparticipant 32 is independently reporting its position and kinematicinformation to any other mobile aerial participants 32 that are withinline-of-sight of the transmitting mobile aerial participant 32 withoutbeing prompted or requested by another mobile (or stationary)participant. The mobile aerial participants 32 utilize the notificationsignals to generate a participant table that is utilized to transmitdata signals between the mobile aerial participants 32.

In various embodiments, the information in the notification signalincludes the mobile aerial participant's 32 identification information,geolocation, kinematic information, attitude information, throughputcapabilities, frequency capabilities, number and capability of sensors,and other information. In various embodiments, the notification signalsalso include transmission time information that allows for Time Distanceof Arrival (TDOA) and Time of Flight (TOF) or Round Trip Timing (RTT)calculations.

The geolocation of the mobile aerial participant 32 may be determinedvia traditional methods like GPS sensors or modules, cell tower orstationary participant signal triangulation, or via notificationmessages from other devices or participants that know or estimate theposition or location of the mobile aerial participant 32. This can beaccomplished with extreme accuracy and minimal latency when notificationmessages are echoed and supported by stationary participants. Thegeolocation may also be referred to as the position or location of themobile aerial participant 32.

The kinematic information may be obtained by monitoring the mobileaerial participant's 32 position and identifying changes over time,utilizing various sensors to calculate or determine the kinematicinformation, or obtaining it from another system.

The attitude information may be obtained from the electronics or flightcontrols or sensors of the mobile aerial participant 32. The attitudeinformation may include yaw, pitch, roll, and sensitivity parameters ofeach.

The frequency capabilities of the mobile aerial participant 32 may bepredetermined based on the type of hardware utilized by the mobileaerial participant 32. For example, the hardware of the mobile aerialparticipant 32 may be designed to utilize ACARS, IEEE 802.11 standards,or some other wireless transmission frequencies or standards, whichdefines the frequency capabilities of the mobile aerial participant 32.In other embodiments, the frequency capabilities may be predeterminedbased on government regulations regarding available frequencies. In yetother embodiments, the frequency capabilities may be defined by a useror administrator.

The throughput may be predetermined based on the type of hardwareutilized by the mobile aerial participant 32 or on the currentprocessing capacity or network traffic of the mobile aerial participant32 or a number of other factors. For example, if the mobile aerialparticipant 32 is a Boeing 737-700 then it may have more throughputcapabilities than a Boeing 777-200ER because the Boeing 737-700 may haveless passengers and thus may be supporting fewer data requests from userdevices onboard the airplane, which can allow for more possessing powerto be directed towards forwarding communications between otherparticipants.

The number and capability of sensors may identify the type of sensors,where their particular antennas are attached to the participant, therange/transmission capabilities of the sensors, their beamwidthcharacteristics, power levels, or other information regarding thesensors on the corresponding participant.

Notification signals are transmitted via directional broadcast beams. Invarious embodiments, directional notification signals may be transmittedin a sequential or non-sequential 360-degree pattern, so that thenotification signal is transmitting in all directions surrounding theparticipant. In some embodiments, where there is little to no sensoroverlap, the notification signals may be transmitted using directionalor non-directional broadcast signals. In general, the use of the term“broadcast” herein refers to the transmission of a signal by a sendingparticipant without being requested by another participant and does nothave a specific participant as a destination.

Use of directional transmissions can reduce the amount of power neededto transmit the notification signal or other communication to anotherparticipant, while also providing additional versatility in providingadditional sensor coverage by at least one sensor on at least oneparticipant in an area. Moreover, the use of directional transmissionsenables the sending participant to use just enough power to ensure itgets to its intended target. Additionally, directional transmissions canreduce interference between transmissions in a congested space as wellas make transmissions more secure.

The notification signal may be broadcast periodically, at predeterminedtimes, dynamically selected based on number and proximity of othermobile aerial participants, or at a given dynamically changing updaterate. In some embodiments, the rate at which the mobile aerialparticipant 32 transmits its notification signal may change based on acombination of the distance, closure velocity, and closing anglesbetween the sending mobile aerial participant 32 and other mobile aerialparticipants 32 within line-of-sight of the sending mobile aerialparticipant 32.

The mobile aerial participants 32 a-32 c transmit notification signalsto inform other mobile aerial participants 32 of their position andmovement. For example, mobile aerial participant 32 a transmitsnotification signals with information identifying itself and itsrespective geolocation and kinematic information without regard to thepresence or location of mobile aerial participants 32 b or 32 c. Ifmobile aerial participant 32 c is within line-of-sight of mobile aerialparticipant 32 a, mobile aerial participant 32 c receives thetransmitted notification signals from mobile aerial participant 32 a andutilizes the information in the notification signals, and its ownlocation and kinematic information, to identify the position andmovement of mobile aerial participant 32 a relative to itself.

The mobile aerial participants 32 can utilize the notification signalsto track other participants and non-participants (e.g., by using echosignals of the notification signals to locate objects) and to create andupdate the participant table to identify which participants are innetwork 33, their location, their capabilities, and who they are inline-of-sight communication. The various communications between themobile aerial participants 32 a-32 c create a communication network 33among each other that enables them to communicate with one anotherwithout the use of another communication backbone, such as a cellulartower network.

The data signals transmitted by one participant to another participantmay be transmitted via directional transmission beams or non-directionaltransmission signals. In various embodiments, the sending mobile aerialparticipant 32 utilizes a participant table to determine a location ofthe recipient participant. The sending mobile aerial participant 32 candirectionally focus the transmitted data signals towards the recipientparticipant based on the position of the sending participant and theposition of the recipient participant. The use of directionaltransmissions can reduce power consumption and increase the range inwhich transmission can be received, while also reducing interferencebetween transmissions in a congested space.

The data signals may be the fusion or combination of payload data and aself-reporting message (similar to the information provided in anotification signal). The size of each data signal may be variable andmay dynamically change based on current network bandwidth, individualparticipant bandwidth, requests for more or less information, requestsfor higher or lower fidelity tracking of participants or objects, etc.In some embodiments, the amount of payload data may be increased ordecreased to accommodate changes in the size of the data signals. Inother embodiments, the amount of information in the self-reportingmessage portion may be increased or decreased to accommodate changes inthe size of the data signals. In yet other embodiments, differentcombinations of increases or decreases to the payload data or theself-reporting message portion may be utilized. In various embodiments,other characteristics of the data signals may be dynamically modified,including changing the pulse width of the transmission beam, changingthe energy on the destination participant, etc.

The data signals (or the notification signals) may be packetized forsecurity and ease of transmission (e.g., VOIP or other packetizeddata-driven services). The data or a portion of the data of each packetmay be utilized as a thumbprint of each individual packet. For example,in some embodiments, each packet may include one or more beamcharacteristics used to transmit the data signal. These beamcharacteristics can be compared for subsequent packets to determine ifthe packets originated from the same participant. Similar comparisons ofsubsequent packets can be performed on other data included in anotification signal (geolocation, kinematic information, attitudeinformation, throughput capabilities, frequency capabilities, number andcapability of sensors, etc.).

Although not illustrated, other mobile participants and stationaryparticipants may also perform similar actions as described above toidentify and track mobile participants that are in line-of-sight tosupport management of the participant table and to communicate data orinformation amongst themselves to increase accuracy and efficiency ofeach participant.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate context diagrams of using directional signalingand scanning to provide directional communication between participantsin accordance with embodiments described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates anexample 70A of first participant 90, such as an airplane, transmittingdirectional notification signals 92 a-92 d. As shown, each notificationsignal 92 is transmitted away from the first participant 90 at aparticular angle with a particular beamwidth. In various embodiments,the first participant 90 waits a predetermined amount of time beforetransmitting the next notification signal 92 at the next angle. In otherembodiments, the first participant 90 may continuously transmit the nextnotification signal at the next angle and utilize phased, frequency, andpolarity shifts to allow for simultaneous transmission and reception ofnotification signals. The beamwidths of the notification signals 92 maynot overlap, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 3A, or they may partiallyoverlap one another.

In the illustrated example in FIG. 3A, the first participant 90transmits eight notification signals with 45 degree beamwidth to cover360 degrees around the first participant 90. Although FIG. 3Aillustrates the notification signals as two-dimensional transmissions,embodiments are not so limited, and the notification signals may betransmitted as three dimensional signals, such as a cone shape. In someembodiments, the first participant 90 may transmit a first set ofnotification signals at a first elevation, e.g., with a center of thetransmission on a horizontal axis from the first participant, and asecond set of notification signals at a second elevation, e.g., with acenter of the transmission at a 30 degree angle towards the ground. Thefirst participant 90 may continue with additional sets of notificationsignals as different vertical or elevational angles to create athree-dimensional coverage area.

In various embodiments, the first participant 90 transmits thenotification signals 92 in a sequential order. For example, notificationsignal 92 a is transmitted first, followed by notification signal 92 b,which is followed by notification signal 92 c, and so on. A completetransmission cycle occurs when all eight notification signals 92 havebeen transmitted. A complete transmission cycle is used to notify otherparticipants within line-of-sight of the first participant 90 of thefirst participant's 90 location and kinematic information.

Although FIG. 3A illustrates eight notification signals being used for acomplete transmission cycle, other numbers of notification signals atother beamwidths may also be utilized. Moreover, the first participant90 may include one or a plurality of sensors that each performs suchdirectional notification signals. In at least one such embodiment, eachsensor may include a complete transmission cycle that is 360 degrees, 90degrees, or some other total coverage area. Moreover, a completetransmission cycle may include one or more different planes or levels ina 3-dimensional area around the first participant 90. For example, agiven sensor may have a 90 degree horizontal beamwidth area to cover,but also include a positive 45 degrees and negative 45 degreesvertically with respect to the horizon of the first participant90—although other coverage areas may be employed.

In various embodiments, a complete transmission cycle is performed at agiven update rate, which may be predetermined or may dynamically change.For example, in some embodiments, the update rate may be faster whenthere are more participants or non-participant objects near the firstparticipant 90, compared to when there are few or no objects near thefirst participant 90. In other embodiments, the update rate may befaster when the first participant 90 is moving at a higher speedcompared to when the first participant 90 is moving at a slower speed.

In some embodiments, the first participant 90 may also maintainindividualized update rates for each participant that is inline-of-sight of the first participant 90. However, since the firstparticipant 90 does not request the positional information from otherparticipants, it can utilize only the received notification signalsbased on the update rate, while ignoring every other notification signalfrom the other participant. For example, if another participant istransmitting notification signals once every second, but the firstparticipant 90 has an update rate of once every five seconds for theother participant, then it may utilize one of the five notificationsignals that it receives in a five second period while ignoring therest. This individualized update rate may dynamically change based onthe distance and velocity of closure between the first participant 90and the other participant object. In this way, the first participant 90utilizes more notification signals from the first participant 90 whenthe other participant and the first participant 90 are closer togetheror traveling towards each other such that there is a threat of potentialcollision, and ignores superfluous notification signals if they are farapart or traveling away from one another. In other embodiments, firstparticipant 90 can use one of its self-reported notification signals tocommunicate to other participants within line of sight to increase itsupdate rate, if needed.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example 70B of a second participant 94 comingwithin line-of-sight of the first participant 90 while the firstparticipant 90 is transmitting directional notification signals 92.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the notification signal 92 d is transmitted awayfrom the first participant 90. The second participant 94 receives thenotification signal 92 d. Based on the information in the notificationsignal 92, the second participant 94 updates the participant table.Likewise, the second participant 94 is also transmitting notificationsignals, not illustrated, that are being received by the firstparticipant 90.

When the first participant 90 has a message or communication to transmitto the second participant 94, the first participant 90 utilizes theparticipant table to determine the location and movement of the secondparticipant 94 relative to the location and movement of the firstparticipant 90. The first participant 90 can then directionally transmita signal (e.g., a data signal), similar to the directional transmissionof the notification signal 92 d, to the second participant 94 with themessage or communication. In general, notification signals are notdirected towards a specific participant, but data transmission signalsare directed towards a specific participant. In this way, thetransmission power can be focused on a relatively narrow beamwidthrather than a non-directional broadcasted message, which improves powerutilization and reduces the chance of interception by third parties.

Although not described in detail herein, the first participant 90 canreceive an echo signal of the notification signal off the secondparticipant 94 to determine a position of the second participant object94. The first participant 90 can calculate the approximate distance thesecond participant 94 is away from the first participant 90 based on thetime of flight from the transmission of the notification signal 92 d tothe receipt of the echo signal, and an approximate direction based onangle of arrival of the echo signal. This approximate distance anddirection are used to determine an approximate position 98 of the secondparticipant 94.

Utilization of the echo signal from the notification signal can behelpful in identifying and tracking non-participants. Similarly, suchindependent determination of the approximate position of the secondparticipant 94 may be utilized if a participant's equipment ismalfunctioning and not transmitting notification signals or if theinformation in its notification signals is not accurate. Thus, thisapproximated position calculation can be compared to the locationinformation in the notification signals to confirm that the informationin the notification signals is accurate.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate context diagrams illustrating use-case examplesof employing a cognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh network to trackparticipants and objects in accordance with embodiments describedherein.

Example 100A in FIG. 4A illustrates a plurality of mobile aerialparticipants 104 a-104 c. Each mobile aerial participant 104 a-104 cutilizes one or more sensors to transmit notification signals and datasignals to other participants, such as mobile aerial participants 104a-104 c, or to stationary participants 106 a-106 b, via line-of-sightcommunications 102 a-102 e. Similarly, each mobile aerial participant104 a-104 c also tracks the position of the other mobile aerialparticipant 104 a-104 c and any non-participants 108.

In this illustration, assume mobile aerial participant 104 a and tower106 a are within line-of-sight communication of each other via link 102a; mobile aerial participant 104 a and mobile aerial participant 104 bare within line-of-sight communication of each other via link 102 b;mobile aerial participant 104 b and tower 106 a are within line-of-sightcommunication of each via link 102 c; mobile aerial participant 104 band mobile aerial participant 104 c are within line-of-sightcommunication of each other via link 102 d; and mobile aerialparticipant 104 c and tower 106 b are within line-of-sight communicationof each other via link 102 e; and assume tower 106 a and tower 106 bcommunicate via wired connection or wired communication network,referred to as link 106. Each of these links may be referred to as aparticipant pair.

In various embodiments, each mobile aerial participant 104 a-104 c, oneor more stationary participants 106 a-106 b, or a network operationscenter 110 (i.e., one or more server computing systems) maintains anetwork database or participant table with information about eachparticipant and the participant pairs between participants. For example,the network database may store information for each participant, such asa unique identifier that has been registered within the network,specific type aircraft, nationality, owner, transmit/receivecapabilities (e.g., spectrum, polarity, type and location of antennas orsensors), etc. The database or participant table may also identify oneor more communication characteristics of each link 102 a-102 d, such assignal to noise ratio, quality of signal, spectrum capability, frequencycapability, environmental conditions, and other characteristics. Thisinformation can be transmitted, along with kinematic or other data, innotification signals or other types of transmission signals (e.g., datasignals), to paint a three-dimensional picture of the network. Mobileaerial participants 104 a-104 c utilize a locally stored version of thedatabase or participant table to transmit data or data requests betweenparticipants. The participant tables can also be utilized to track theposition and movement of non-participants. For example, the participanttable (or other object-tracking table) may be shared between mobileaerial participants 104 a-104 c and stationary participants 106 a-106 b,and it may include a position, movement, estimated size or type, orother details about any non-participants 108 that are being identifiedand tracked by any of the participants.

Example 100B in FIG. 4B illustrates a specific example where mobileaerial participants 104 b-104 c are communicating with one another viacommunication link 102 d. In this illustrated example, mobile aerialparticipant 104 c and mobile aerial participant 104 b have a directline-of-sight to each other without interference from obstruction 124.Therefore, mobile aerial participants 104 b-104 c can transmitnotification signals and data signals to one other without the signalsbeing interrupted by obstruction 124. In this example, obstruction 124is a mountain, but in other situations obstruction 124 may be a buildingor other objects that prevent, interfere, or interrupt directline-of-sight communication between participants. As discussed herein,the mobile aerial participants 104 b-104 c may be informing each otherof their current location or they may be providing tracking informationregarding non-participant 108 so that the mobile aerial participants 104b-104 c can refine or improve the tracking of non-participant 108(including location and movement of non-participant 108).

Example 100C in FIG. 4C illustrates a specific example where mobileaerial participant 104 b has traveled behind obstruction 124 and is nolonger in direct line-of-sight communication with mobile aerialparticipant 104 c. Mobile aerial participant 104 b will continue totransmit notification signals 120 to track non-participant 108 and tonotify any other participants (not shown) within line-of-sightcommunication of mobile aerial participant 104 b of its location andmovement.

In some situations, the notification signal 120 will reflect offnon-participant 108, which is represented as reflection signal 122.Mobile aerial participant 104 c receives the reflection signal 122 offnon-participant 108. Because mobile aerial participant 104 c utilizesdirectional antennas, mobile aerial participant 104 c can determine anangle of arrival, power level, and receipt time of the reflection signal122. Mobile aerial participant 104 c utilizes this information todetermine an approximate origination location of the reflection signal122, which may be a particular geolocation or a location along aselected trajectory from the mobile aerial participant 104 c. At thispoint, mobile aerial participant 104 c may not know whether thereflection signal 122 is a reflection signal or a line-of-sightnotification signal transmitted from non-participant 108, assuming thenon-participant 108 is actually a participant that can transmitnotification signals.

As described above, notification signal 120, and thus the reflectionsignal 122, includes the mobile aerial participant's 104 bidentification information, geolocation, kinematic information, andother information specific to that participant. This information iscompared to the approximate origination location of the reflectionsignal 122. If a difference between the approximate origination locationand the geolocation within the reflection signal 122 does not match andexceeds a selected threshold, then mobile aerial participant 104 c knowsthat the reflection signal 122 did not originate from non-participant108, but rather from mobile aerial participant 104 b—even though mobileaerial participants 104 b-104 c lost line-of-sight communication withone another.

Mobile aerial participant 104 c can utilize the information in thereflection signal 122 to track the location and movement of mobileaerial participant 104 b. In some embodiments, mobile aerial participant104 c can attempt to communicate with mobile aerial participant 104 b bydirecting data signals towards non-participant 108 (e.g., at a sametrajectory as the angle of arrival of the reflection signal 122 orslightly modified based on movement of the mobile aerial participant 104c or movement of the non-participant 108). By a similar process, mobileaerial participant 104 b can receive such data signals by receivingreflection signals off non-participant 108. The reflection signal 122can also be utilized by mobile aerial participant 104 c to refine thetracked location and movement of non-participant 108.

The operation of certain aspects will now be described with respect toFIGS. 5 and 6 . In at least one of various embodiments, processes 200and 250 described in conjunction with FIGS. 5 and 6 , respectively, maybe implemented by or executed on one or more computing devices, such asmobile participants 36, stationary participants 34, or network operationcenter server 40.

FIG. 5 illustrates a logical flow diagram showing one embodiment of aprocess for a computing system to utilize reflections of participantcommunication signals to track objects in accordance with embodimentsdescribed herein. Process 200 begins, after a start block, at block 202,where a first participant receives a communication signal that includesfirst positioning information of a second participant. The communicationsignal may be a line-of-sight notification signal from the secondparticipant or a reflection of a notification signal from the secondparticipant.

In various embodiments, the first positioning information may includethe second participant's identification information, geolocation, orkinematic information, or some combination thereof. The firstpositioning information may also include throughput capabilities,frequency capabilities, sensor capabilities, beam characteristics, orother information regarding the second participant or the signaltransmission.

Process 200 proceeds to block 204, where second positioning informationof the second participant is determined based on characteristics of thereceived signal. The second positioning information may be an estimatedposition of the second participant. The characteristics of the receivedsignal may include a direction of receipt of the signal (angle ofarrival), a time-of-flight value for the signal (e.g., by subtracting atransmission timestamp associated with the signal from the time ofreceipt), power level or other types of information that can be used todetect a position of the source of the received signal. The angle ofarrival, power level, and time-of-flight value may be utilized todetermine an estimated origination location of the received signal,which may include a trajectory relative to the first participant and adistance. In some embodiments, movement of the second participant can bedetermined based on position changes determined from receipt of multiplesignals.

Process 200 continues at block 206, where a difference between the firstand second positioning information is determined. In some embodiments,this difference may be determined by one or more comparisons. Forexample, if the geolocation of the first positioning informationindicates that the second participant is at Location_A and the secondpositioning information indicates that the second participant is atLocation_B, the difference may be the horizontal distance in metersbetween the two locations. As another example, the difference may be avertical difference in altitude between the first and second locations.In yet other embodiments, the difference may be a 3-dimensionaldifference that accounts for differences in horizontal distance,vertical distance, and trajectory relative to the first participant.

Process 200 proceeds next to decision block 208, where a determinationis made whether the difference between the first and second positioninginformation is below a first threshold. In at least one embodiment, thefirst and second positioning information may be considered as matchingwhen the difference between the first and second positioning informationis below the first threshold. In some embodiments, a match occurs whenthe geolocation within the data of the received signal is identical toor within the first threshold from the estimated location determinedfrom the received signal characteristics. A match between the first andsecond positioning information may indicate that the received signal wasa line-of-sight communication from the second participant and not areflected signal off another object. If the difference between the firstand second positioning information is below the first threshold, thenprocess 200 may flow to block 216; otherwise, process 200 may flow todecision block 210.

At block 216, the first positioning information of the secondparticipant is confirmed or forwarded to other participants. In someembodiments, a local participant table maintained by the firstparticipant is updated with the first positioning information of thesecond participant. The first participant can then forward thisparticipant table to other participants so that they can update theirlocally maintained participant tables. After block 216, process 200 mayterminate or otherwise return to a calling process to perform otheractions.

If, at decision block 208, the difference between the first and secondpositioning information is not below the first threshold, then process200 flows from decision block 208 to decision block 210. At decisionblock 210, a determination is made whether the difference between thefirst and second positioning information is above the first thresholdand below a second threshold.

In some situations, the sensors on the second participant may bemalfunctioning and providing incorrect information, such as an incorrectgeolocation. The first participant may detect such a malfunction if thedifference between the second participant's reported geolocation (e.g.,from within the data of the received signal) and the estimated locationdetermined from the received signal characteristics exceeds the firstthreshold, but is below the second threshold. Such a malfunction,however, may not be detectable if the difference exceeds the secondthreshold, because the received signal may have reflected off anotherobject, which caused the difference to exceed the second threshold. Ifthe difference between the first and second positioning information isabove the first threshold and below the second threshold, then process200 may flow to block 218; otherwise, process 200 may flow to block 212.

At block 218, the positioning information of the second participant isfurther refined. Because the difference between the second participant'sreported geolocation and the estimated location determined from thereceived signal characteristics may indicate a malfunction of a sensoron the second participant, the first participant can further refine thepositioning information of the second participant.

In some embodiments, the first participant can transmit notificationsignals and receive the echoed notification signals to determine alocation of the second participant, as described herein. This locationinformation can be utilized to further refine or modify positioninginformation of the second participant. In other embodiments, the firstparticipant can send a request for updated information to otherparticipants within line-of-sight of the second participant. These otherparticipants can respond with information they have collected regardingthe second participant, which the first participant can use to furtherrefine the positioning information of the second participant. Forexample, the first participant can receive the position of the otherparticipants, a distance from the other participants to the secondparticipant, and heading or direction from the other participants to thesecond participant. With this information, the first participant cantriangulate an estimated position of the second participant. In variousembodiments, the first participant may continue to refine thepositioning information of the second participant until some refinementcriteria is satisfied, which is further described in FIG. 6 .

Process 200 proceeds next to block 220, where the refined positioninginformation of the second participant is provided to other participants.In some embodiments, block 220 may employ embodiments of block 216,where the first participant updates its locally maintained participanttable with the refined positioning information and transmits the updatedparticipant table to the other participants. After block 220, process200 may terminate or otherwise return to a calling process to performother actions.

If, at decision block 210, the difference between the first and secondpositioning information is above the second threshold, then process 200flows from decision block 210 to decision block 212. At block 212, thefirst participant determines that the second participant is not withinline-of-sight of the first participant and that the received signal wasreflected off another object. In various embodiments, this determinationis made assuming the first participant did not receive another signalfrom the second participant that was similarly processed and determinedto originate from the second participant, e.g., at blocks 208 and 210.

Process 200 continues next at block 214, where the first positioninginformation of the second participant is provided to other participants.Because it is determined that the first and second participants are notwithin line-of-sight of one another, other participants in proximity tothe first participant may also be out of line-of-sight of the secondparticipant. These other participants may benefit from having the secondparticipant's positioning information for tracking or data transmissionpurposes, such as to determine if the second participant may become athreat to the other participant or if the other participant can use thesecond participant to forward data signals at some time in the future.

In various embodiments, the first participant may also identify andtrack the object that caused the reflection signal based on the secondpositioning information. In some embodiments, the first participant mayfurther track the object using notification signals and echoes, and cancontinue to refine the positioning information of the object until somerefinement criteria is satisfied, which is further described in FIG. 6

In some embodiments, block 214 may employ embodiments of block 216,where the first participant updates its locally maintained participanttable with the first positioning information of the second participant(or the tracked object) and transmits the updated participant table tothe other participants.

After block 214, process 200 may terminate or otherwise return to acalling process to perform other actions.

FIG. 6 illustrates a logical flow diagram showing one embodiment of aprocess for a computing system to refine object tracking in accordancewith embodiments described herein. Process 250 begins, after a startblock, at block 252, where first positioning information of an object isdetermined by a first participant. In some embodiments, the firstparticipant may transmit notification signals and receive echo signalsoff the object to determine the first positioning information of theobject, as described herein. In other embodiments, the object may beanother participant and the first positioning information may beincluded in a notification signal transmitted by the other participantand received by the first participant. In yet other embodiments, thefirst positioning information may be determined using reflectionsignals, as discussed above.

Process 250 proceeds to block 254, where second positioning informationof the object is received from a second participant. In someembodiments, the second positioning information is provided in responseto a request from the first participant for additional informationregarding the object. In other embodiments, the second positioninginformation may be received in response to the second participantidentifying the object and transmitting out the second positioninginformation to inform participants of the object. Although embodimentsare described as receiving second positioning information for a singlesecond participant, embodiments are not so limited and the firstparticipant can receive second positioning information from a pluralityof other participants.

Process 250 continues at block 256, where the first positioninginformation of the object is refined based on the second positioninginformation. In some embodiments, the participant can utilize the firstand second positioning information to triangulate or perform additionalfidelity calculations to refine the first positioning information. Forexample, the second participant can provide their position, a distancefrom the second participant to the object, and a heading or directionfrom the second participant to the object. This information can be usedby the first participant in combination with a position of the firstparticipant and heading or direction from the first participant to theobject to determine a more accurate position of the object.

Process 250 proceeds next to decision block 258, where a determinationis made whether one or more refinement criteria are satisfied. In someembodiments, the first participant may continue to refine thepositioning information of the object until an accuracy threshold isachieved. For example, the first participant may continue to refine ageolocation of the object until the first participant has narrowed theobject's geolocation to a position having an error of less than 10meters.

In other embodiments, the refinement criteria may be satisfied if theobject is out of range or out of line-of-sight of the first participant.In yet other embodiments, the refinement criteria may be satisfied ifthe object has been neutralized or otherwise no longer needs to betracked.

In various embodiments, different refinement criteria can be utilized indifferent scenarios. For example, a first error threshold or accuracymay be utilized if the object is within a threshold distance from thefirst participants, but a second error threshold or accuracy may beutilized if the object is further away than the threshold distance. Asanother example, a first error threshold or accuracy may be utilized ifthe system or first participant has a data throughput less a thresholdamount, but a second error threshold or accuracy may be utilized if thedata throughput is more than the threshold amount.

If the refinement criteria is satisfied, process 250 flows to block 264;otherwise, process 250 flows to decision block 260.

At block 264, the refined positioning information of the object istransmitted to the second participant or other participants withinline-of-sight of the first participant. In various embodiments, thefirst participant may include the refined positioning information with anext transmitted notification signal or as a separate data signal. Insome embodiments, the first and second participants can communicate backand forth multiple times to further refine the positioning informationof the object. Moreover, the participants can modify the size of thesignals transmitted between the participants to accommodate for higherfidelity information, higher throughput, faster transmissions, etc.

After block 264, process 250 loops to block 252 to continue to determineand refine the positioning information of the object until therefinement criteria is satisfied.

If, at decision block 258, the refinement criteria is satisfied, process250 flows from decision block 258 to decision block 260. At decisionblock 260, a determination is made whether to continue to track ormonitor the object. In various embodiments, this determination is madebased on the refinement criteria that is satisfied. For example, if theobject is out of range of the first participant or the object has beenneutralized, then the first participant does not need to continue totrack the object. But if the object is still within line-of-sight of thefirst participant, then the first participant may continue to track theobject even though the current positioning information of the object isat the accuracy threshold. If tracking of the object is to continue,process 250 loops to block 252; otherwise, process 250 flows to block262 and ignores the object. After block 262, process 250 may terminateor otherwise return to a calling process to perform other actions.

FIG. 7 shows a system diagram that describes one implementation ofcomputing systems for implementing embodiments described herein. System300 includes mobile participant computing device(s) 36 (e.g., aerialmobile devices), stationary participant computing device(s) 34, andnetwork operation center server 40.

Mobile participant computing device(s) 36 communicate with one or moreother mobile participant computing devices 36 and stationary participantcomputing devices 34 via line-of-sight communications to transmit dataand other communications among the participants. One or morespecial-purpose computing systems may be used to implement each mobileparticipant computing device 36. Accordingly, various embodimentsdescribed herein may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, orin some combination thereof. A mobile participant computing device 36may include memory 371, one or more central processing units (CPUs) 384,display 386, other I/O interfaces 388, other computer-readable media390, network connections 392, transceiver 396, and location andkinematic sensors 398.

Memory 371 may include one or more various types of non-volatile and/orvolatile storage technologies. Examples of memory 371 may include, butare not limited to, flash memory, hard disk drives, optical drives,solid-state drives, various types of random access memory (RAM), varioustypes of read-only memory (ROM), other computer-readable storage media(also referred to as processor-readable storage media), or the like, orany combination thereof. Memory 371 may be utilized to storeinformation, including computer-readable instructions that are utilizedby CPU 384 to perform actions, including embodiments described herein.

Memory 371 may have stored thereon ad-hoc-mesh-network system 372, whichincludes object-tracking module 374. The object-tracking module 374 mayemploy embodiments described herein to track objects, including otherparticipants and non-participants. The memory 371 may also store otherprograms 380 and other data 382. The other programs 380 may include userapplications, other tracking or geo-positioning programs, etc. The otherdata 382 may include participant and sensor information, data orinformation regarding one or more non-participant objects, or otherinformation.

Network connections 392 are configured to communicate with othercomputing devices, such as other mobile participant computing devices 36and stationary participant computing devices 34 via transceiver 396 andline-of-sight communications mechanisms and technologies. Transceiver396 may be an omni-directional transceiver that sends and receives radiosignals independent of direction, or transceiver 396 may be adirectional transceiver that sends or receives, or both sends andreceives, radio signals to or from a particular direction relative tothe positioning of the mobile participant computing device 36.

Location and kinematic sensors 398 include one or more sensors that areused to determine the position of the mobile participant computingdevice 36 and the kinematic information of how the mobile participantcomputing device 36 is moving. Examples of location and kinematic datasensors 398 include, but are not limited to using participant'sself-reported notifications calibrated off of stationary participants,processing the echo of participant's own self-reported notifications,GPS modules, accelerometers, gyroscopes, or other sensors that can beused to determine the position and kinematic information of the mobileparticipant computing device 36.

Other I/O interfaces 388 may include a keyboard, audio interfaces, videointerfaces, or the like. Other computer-readable media 390 may includeother types of stationary or removable computer-readable media, such asremovable flash drives, external hard drives, or the like. Display 386is a display interface that is configured to output images, content, orinformation to a user. Examples of display 386 include, but are notlimited to, LCD screens, LEDs or other lights, or other types of displaydevices.

Stationary participant computing device(s) 34 communicate with mobileparticipant computing devices 36 via line-of-sight communications andwith other stationary participants either by wired or wirelesscommunications to transmit information or data to other participants orto non-participants. One or more special-purpose computing systems maybe used to implement each stationary participant computing device 34.

Accordingly, various embodiments described herein may be implemented insoftware, hardware, firmware, or in some combination thereof. Astationary participant computing device 34 may include memory 302, oneor more central processing units (CPUs) 316, I/O interfaces 322, othercomputer-readable media 314, network connections 318, and transceiver320.

Memory 302 may include one or more various types of non-volatile and/orvolatile storage technologies. Examples of memory 302 may include, butare not limited to, flash memory, hard disk drives, optical drives,solid-state drives, various types of random access memory (RAM), varioustypes of read-only memory (ROM), other computer-readable storage media(also referred to as processor-readable storage media), or the like, orany combination thereof. Memory 302 may be utilized to storeinformation, including computer-readable instructions that are utilizedby CPU 316 to perform actions, including embodiments described herein.

Memory 302 may have stored thereon ad-hoc-mesh-network system 304, whichincludes data-traffic-manager module 306 and optionally object-trackingmodule 308. The data-traffic-manager module 306 may employ embodimentsdescribed herein to transfer data from one participant to anotherparticipant. In some embodiments, the stationary participant computingdevice 34 may also include the object-tracking module 374, which mayemploy embodiments described herein to track objects. As describedelsewhere herein, some stationary participant computing devices 34 maybe used in conjunction with one or more mobile participant computingdevices 32 to improve the accuracy of an object's position being trackedby at least one of the one or more mobile participant computing devices32. The object-tracking module 308 may employ embodiments describedherein to track objects, including other participants andnon-participants, similar to object-tracking module 374. Althoughdata-traffic-manager module 306 and object-tracking module 308 are shownas separate modules, embodiments are not so limited. Rather, a singlemodule or a plurality of additional modules may be utilized to performthe functionality of data-traffic-manager module 306 and object-trackingmodule 308. In various embodiments, data-traffic-manager module 306 orobject-tracking module 308, or both, may communicate with networkoperation center server 40 via communication network 52.

The memory 302 may also store other programs 310 and other data 312. Theother data 312 may include participant data or information, data orinformation regarding one or more tracked objects, or other information.

Network connections 318 are configured to communicate with othercomputing devices, such as other stationary participant computingdevices 34 and mobile participant computing devices 36 via transceiver320 and wired or line-of-sight communications mechanisms andtechnologies. Network connections 318 are also configured to communicatewith the network operation center server 40 via communication network52.

Transceiver 320 may be a omni-directional transceiver that sends andreceives radio signals independent of direction, or transceiver 320 maybe a directional transceiver that sends or receives, or both sends andreceives, radio signals to or from a particular direction relative tothe position of the stationary participant computing device 34.

Other I/O interfaces 322 may include a keyboard, audio interfaces, videointerfaces, or the like. Other computer-readable media 314 may includeother types of stationary or removable computer-readable media, such asremovable flash drives, external hard drives, or the like.

Network operation center server 40 includes one or more computingdevices that store information about the positioning of mobileparticipant computing devices 36 and stationary participant computingdevices 34, such as a master participant table. The network operationcenter server 40 may also store information regarding the sensorcapabilities of each participant, as described herein. The networkoperation center server 40 also includes memory, one or more processors,network interfaces and connections, and other computing componentssimilar to mobile participant computing devices 36 and stationaryparticipant computing devices 34, but those components are not shownhere for ease of illustration.

Communication network 52 may include one or more wired or wirelesscommunication networks to transmit data between one stationaryparticipant computing device 34 and another stationary participantcomputing device 34 or with the network operation center server 40.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. These and other changes can be made to theembodiments in light of the above-detailed description. Moreover,additional details and use case examples are provided in the U.S.patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications,foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publicationsreferred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application DataSheet, including but not limited to U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/892,259, filed Feb. 8, 2018, entitled “Object Tracking Using ACognitive Heterogeneous Ad Hoc Mesh Network;” Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/467,572, filed Mar. 6, 2017, entitled “Scatternet: Acognitive heterogeneous ad hoc mesh data/cellular/Wi-Fi networkestablishment/access points/connected devices through utilization ofsoftware applications exploiting existing technologies and frequencyspectrum for data and voice communications through the exploitation ofthe Internet and Internet of Things, resulting in the creation of Datacommunications Adaptive RADAR (DATAR);” and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/913,612, filed Mar. 6, 2018, entitled “Cognitive Heterogeneous AdHoc Mesh Network;” which are incorporated herein by reference, in theirentirety.

In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not beconstrued to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed inthe specification and the claims, but should be construed to include allpossible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to whichsuch claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by thedisclosure.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method comprising: determining, by a computingdevice of a first participant, a difference between a reported positionof a second participant and characteristics of a signal received by thefirst participant containing the reported position; in response to thedifference being below a first threshold, transmitting, by the computingdevice of the first participant, the reported position of the secondparticipant to a third participant; and in response to the differencebeing above the first threshold, transmitting, by the computing deviceof the first participant, a refined position for the second participantto the third participant.
 22. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: in response to the difference being above a second thresholdthat is higher than the first threshold, transmitting, by the computingdevice of the first participant, the reported position of the secondparticipant to the third participant.
 23. The method of claim 21,further comprising: in response to the difference being above a secondthreshold that is higher than the first threshold, determining, by acomputing device of a first participant, that the signal containing thereported position is a reflection signal and the second participant isout of line-of-sight of the first participant.
 24. The method of claim21, wherein transmitting, by the computing device of the firstparticipant, the refined position for the second participant to thethird participant is in response to the difference being above the firstthreshold and below a second threshold.
 25. The method of claim 21,further comprising: receiving, by the computing device of the firstparticipant, positioning information of the second participant from thethird participant; and generating, by a computing device of a firstparticipant, the refined position from a comparison between the reportedposition and the positioning information.
 26. The method of claim 21,further comprising: receiving, by the computing device of the firstparticipant, a communication signal that includes the reported positionof the second participant.
 27. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: modifying, by a computing device of a first participant, therefined position in response to the refined position failing to satisfyat least one refinement criteria.
 28. A computing device of a firstparticipant, comprising a memory that stores computer instructions; anda processor that, when executing the computer instructions, causes thecomputing device to: determine a comparison between a transmittedposition of a second participant and characteristics of a signalreceived by the first participant containing the transmitted position;transmit the reported position of the second participant to a thirdparticipant in response to the comparison being below a first threshold;and transmit a refined position for the second participant to the thirdparticipant in response to the comparison being above the firstthreshold.
 29. The computing device of claim 28, wherein the processor,when executing the computer instructions, further causes the computingdevice to: transmit the reported position of the second participant tothe third participant in response to the comparison being above a secondthreshold that is higher than the first threshold.
 30. The computingdevice of claim 28, wherein the processor, when executing the computerinstructions, further causes the computing device to: determine that thesignal containing the reported position is a reflection signal inresponse to the comparison being above a second threshold that is higherthan the first threshold.
 31. The computing device of claim 28, whereinthe processor, when executing the computer instructions, further causesthe computing device to: determine that the second participant is out ofline-of-sight of the first participant in response to the comparisonbeing above a second threshold that is higher than the first threshold.32. The computing device of claim 28, wherein transmitting the refinedposition for the second participant to the third participant is inresponse to the comparison being above the first threshold and below asecond threshold.
 33. The computing device of claim 28, wherein theprocessor, when executing the computer instructions, further causes thecomputing device to: receive positioning information of the secondparticipant from the third participant; and generate the refinedposition based on the reported position and the positioning information.34. The computing device of claim 28, wherein the processor, whenexecuting the computer instructions, further causes the computing deviceto: receive a communication signal that includes the reported positionof the second participant.
 35. The computing device of claim 28, whereinthe processor, when executing the computer instructions, further causesthe computing device to: modify the refined position in response to therefined position failing to satisfy at least one refinement criteria.36. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that storesinstructions that, when executed by a processor in a computing system ofa first participant, cause the processor to perform actions, the actionscomprising: determining a positional difference between reportedpositional information of a second participant and positionalcharacteristics of a signal received by the first participant containingthe reported positional information; in response to the positionaldifference being below a first threshold, transmitting the reportedpositional information of the second participant to a third participant;and in response to the positional difference being above the firstthreshold, transmitting refined positional information for the secondparticipant to the third participant.
 37. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein execution of theinstructions by the processor cause the processor to perform furtheractions, the further actions comprising: in response to the positionaldifference being above a second threshold that is higher than the firstthreshold, transmitting the reported positional information of thesecond participant to the third participant.
 38. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein execution of theinstructions by the processor cause the processor to perform furtheractions, the further actions comprising: in response to the positionaldifference being above a second threshold that is higher than the firstthreshold, determining that the signal containing the reportedpositional information is a reflection signal and the second participantis out of line-of-sight of the first participant.
 39. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein transmitting therefined positional information for the second participant to the thirdparticipant is in response to the positional difference being above thefirst threshold and below a second threshold.
 40. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein execution of theinstructions by the processor cause the processor to perform furtheractions, the further actions comprising: receiving additionalpositioning information of the second participant from the thirdparticipant; and generating the refined positional information from acomparison between the reported positional information and theadditional positioning information.